Cushioned cars are well-known in the prior art of railcars for trains. Cushioned cars may be of two types: the end of car cushioning type or the center of car cushioning type. End of car cushioning is a system whereby the couplers that connect one railcar to another are connected to spring and/or damper devices and therefore move relative to the railcars to produce a cushioning effect meant to protect the cargo in the railcars. Cars with center of car cushioning, also known as sliding sill cars, have a main structural sill that moves relative to the car body to allow travel of a spring and/or damper device.
While most railcars have some degree of cushioning, “cushioned cars” may have 10″ to 20″ of axial travel, while most cars have considerably less. Over the past few decades end of car cushioning has become more commonly used and the number of railcars in service with end of car cushioning continues to increase.
Standard railcar brake systems are pneumatically operated and each railcar has a trainline, which is the line through which air is fed from the locomotive to the first car, through to the next car, and so on to the end of the train. The trainline not only provides a means of feeding air to the individual brake systems of each car in the train, but also provides the means through which the engineer in the locomotive effects brake applications and brake releases. By use of a valve in the locomotive, the engineer raises and drops pressure in the trainline. Pneumatic logic valves, known as control valves, in each car respond to these changes in pressure by applying and releasing brake force.
The trainline of each car makes up a segment of the full trainline for the train. These trainline segments are then connected from car to car when a train is arranged. Each car must have means of supporting its own trainline segment, or trainline. One requirement of the supporting apparatus is to provide for the trainline segments of the cars to stay connected to each other as the cars go through various motions relative to each other as the train travels. This requirement has been a difficult challenge for the industry, especially when cushioned cars are used.
If the trainline support system is not adequately designed and applied, unintended hose separations can result. When the hoses separate, pressure drops in the trainline, which causes a full application of the brakes on all cars. Such events, which can cause operational delays, equipment damage and threats to safety, happen far too frequently in the industry and are a major area of attention for railroads and railcar owners. For this reason, the industry has been investing many millions of dollars each year in an effort to eliminate hose separations. One of the most commonly suspected reasons for hose separations is the motion of trainline components on a railcar relative to trainline components on the car to which such railcar is connected.
In addition to the costs and other problems of hose separations, the wide variety of trainline support systems has become a serious maintenance challenge for the industry. Equipment typically does not last for the full lifetime of the railcar and must be replaced occasionally due to age or damage. Ideal maintenance would require both availability of correct replacement equipment and knowledge of correct applications at repair locations dispersed around North America. Both of these requirements are very difficult challenges for the industry.
There remains a need for a novel and innovative trainline support system that can substantially reduce the hose separation challenge and the maintenance challenge that the railroad industry is facing. The present invention promises to reduce the variety of trainline support systems to less than 10% of the current variety. In addition, the trainline support system functions in such a way that much of the relative movement between trainline components during operation is eliminated.